Wheat sowing close to completion in Punjab, Haryana

CHANDIGARH: Wheat sowing in cereal bowl states of Punjab and Haryana is nearing completion and area under the crop is likely to cover normal acreage of 35 lakh hectares in Punjab and 25 lakh hectares in Haryana this season, officials said.

A senior official of Punjab agriculture department told ET that 99% of wheat sowing area is already covered and it is likely to cover 35.05 lakh hectares.

In neighbouring Haryana the crop has been sown on more than 23 lakh hectares and it will cover around 25 lakh hectares, according to senior agriculture officials.

Scattered showers and dip in mercury in the last week has boosted the wheat sowing in the two states. “The dip in the temperature is conducive for the sowing and weather has become favourable for wheat,” Indu Sharma, director of the Karnal-based Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, told ET.

In 2015-16 rabi marketing season, Food Corporation of India had procured 104.44 lakh tonnes of wheat from Punjab and 67.78 lakh tonnes from Haryana.

Both states account for about 55 % of wheat to the Indian central buffer stock.

Punjab recorded its highest wheat output so far in 2011-12 when it produced 180 lakh tonnes of wheat on the back of favourable weather conditions.

This rabi season, scanty rains had delayed wheat sowing in most states, especially western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.